I should have known that marshaling a bill through legislation involved some politics. As an update, SB448 SD1 died in the Senate. It was re-referred to a joint committee if JDL/WAM and never got scheduled.
On the House side, HB632 HD2 passed through the FIN committee and crossed over to the Senate. This House bill is referred to TEC/JDL and WAM on March 5th. I had high hopes that by now I would be writing to let you know when and where to send your testimony. Unfortunately, the bill is not yet schedule for a hearing and we are deathly close to the cutoff date.
Where the politics come in is both Chairs of TEC and JDL need to agree upon a joint hearing of their respective committees. For some reason, unbeknownst to me that agreement is not happening. I have a meeting with Sen. Clayton Hee this Thursday, March 21st and will give you an update on his perspective on the bill. Sen Glenn Wakai is in full support as he introduced the original Senate version SB448.
As you can imagine this part of bill process is the most frustrating. There a many people telling me what I could-a, should-a, would-a done and as it looks now, I may have that chance next year if this bill does not get out of the Senate. In the meantime, I am spending quite a bit of time walking the halls of the Capitol talking to anyone that will listen to me. If I can break the log jam (or not) will keep you posted.